Most things are now designed to be glanced at. A poster from a moving car or a social post under someone’s thumb.
Last week I wrote about clarity, and how good marketing removes friction. But clarity doesn’t mean flattening every interesting edge.
The first glance matters. You need to know what it is, who it’s from, whether it’s relevant and whether you can be bothered. That’s the commercial bit. The bit that stops design becoming a private joke between the designer and their own reflection. But I’ve always been interested in the second glance (possibly too interested).
I love a double meaning. A twist of wit. A line that lands half a second later. A visual idea that does one job quickly, then gives you something else if you stay with it.
Internal Comms – Your Brand on the Inside.
A guide to connecting your people, culture and performance.
It’s not always helpful and I have absolutely been guilty of overthinking things or trying too hard. Making something a little too clever when the job probably asked for “clear, confident and out by Thursday”.
And yes, “too clever” is a note I’ve heard before.
But I still think the instinct matters.
The first glance tells you what you’re looking at.
The second glance gives you a reason to care.
That’s where design can move from information to appreciation.
That doesn’t mean everything needs a hidden symbol or a concept that requires three paragraphs to explain it. But when something has that extra thought in it, you feel it. A crop that changes the meaning. A line that quietly earns a smile. A type choice that adds tone rather than decoration. A detail that says a human actually enjoyed making this, rather than just assembling it in Canva.
That’s the bit of creativity I love. The small reward for paying attention.
And in a world full of things designed only to survive the scroll, there’s still something powerful about making work that earns the second glance.
Just not at the expense of the first.
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